Author Talk with Elizabeth Graver

Elizabeth Graver’s fifth novel, Kantika, was inspired by her grandmother Rebecca, who was born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Istanbul and whose shape-shifting life journey took her to Spain, Cuba and New York. Kantika was awarded the 2023 Edward Lewis Wallant Award and a National Jewish Book Award. It was named a Best Historical Fiction Book and Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times, and a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Lilith and Libby. German and Turkish editions are forthcoming.

Elizabeth’s fourth novel, The End of the Point, was long-listed for the 2013 National Book Award in Fiction and selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her other novels are Awake, The Honey Thief, and Unravelling. Her story collection, Have You Seen Me?, won the 1991 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Her work has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, and Best American Essays. She teaches at Boston College.

Stephanie Garry, a longtime Jewish communal leader locally, nationally and globally — and a staunch advocate for the elevation of Jewish women as social change makers — is President of Elluminate at Plaza Jewish Community Chapel in NYC, where she has been for the past 22 years. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, she came to New York out of college as an aspiring actor and has appeared in about 1,500 television commercials for major corporate brands. She has served as president of Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford Corners, NY; community outreach coordinator for the Westchester (NY) Chapter of the American Jewish Committee; member of the Executive Committee of the World Union for Progressive Judaism; and, member of the North American Board of the Union for Reform Judaism. She also is host of the podcast Exit Strategy, which received the 2023 Communicator Award for Distinction. Garry belongs to Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York, where she is a member of the Caring Committee, and is also a member of Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York and Temple Shaaray Tefila in Westchester (NY) County. She is a board member of The Hadassah Foundation. an associate member of the National Association of Temple Administrators, and is a long-standing member of the lay advisory board of The New York Board of Rabbis. In addition, Stephanie is on the Reimagine360 Advisory Council.